It’s been nearly 33 years since Joy Hibbs was found dead in her Bristol Township, Pennsylvania home.
The house went up in flames on April 19, 1991. Once the fire was extinguished, firefighters discovered the charred body of the 35-year-old in her son’s bedroom. Her son was at school at the time.
An autopsy revealed that Joy had not died in the fire, but had been stabbed numerous times and strangled. Police believed whoever killed her started the fire to cover their tracks.
Dateline featured Joy’s story in our “Cold Case Spotlight” series in 2015. At the time, the Bristol Township Police said the case was still active and ongoing, but no persons of interest or suspects were ever publicly identified.
In May of 2022 -- 31 years after Joy’s murder -- authorities arrested a man named Robert Atkins in connection to the case. According to information on the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office website, detectives identified Atkins as a suspect early on. “He used to live two doors away from the Hibbs and was known to occasionally sell marijuana to Joy Hibbs and her husband,” the site reads.
The case went to trial in January of 2024. In closing arguments, District Attorney Jen Schorn said, “This family has waited 33 years. Justice has been delayed but it must not be denied.”
The trial lasted for less than a week before the jury reached its verdict on Thursday, February 1.
Atkins was convicted of first-degree murder and arson for killing Joy Hibbs in April 1991 and then setting the house on fire to cover up the crime.
According to the Bucks County DA, Atkins was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder. He was also sentenced to an additional 5-10 years for one of the arson convictions and a concurrent sentence of 10-20 years in prison for the second arson conviction.
Joy’s husband, Charlie Hibbs, read a victim impact statement in court.
“Joy was my high school sweetheart, my first love, mother to my children, and the loving soul that kept our family together,” he said. “According to my faith, I am supposed to forgive, and I am finding difficulty in doing so.”
“As this nightmare comes to an end for my family,” Charlie Hibbs continued, “his is about to start.”